CAP's Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) look-up service helps retailers access quality vehicle data quickly and easily. But how does this process work and what exactly goes on behind the scenes?

Let’s begin with the UK car market 

There are 32 million cars on the road in the UK. CAP’s database covers 93% of this, which equates to 29.7 million cars.

The remaining 7% features cars that are over 15 years old, which we cannot link Motor Vehicle Registration Information System (MVRIS) files to.

On average, cars in the UK are just under 8 years old, so our data covers this.

How does CAP manage the Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) look-up process?

CAP receives weekly files automatically updated from the DVLA database, which highlights new registrations and changes of ownership. This ensures our data is always current.

In addition we also receive monthly updates from the SMMT of new MVRIS codes. 

These monthly updates feature an average of 350 new derivatives each month. We have to manually match these new models to the CAP Codes. CAP creates pack models for popular pack combinations to add value in the used market. 

We link these pack models to the single MVRIS code making identifying option possible via the VRM lookup. This manual matching of files takes two days to complete each month.

What is patching?

Sometimes MVRIS codes are matched to the wrong vehicle. This can occur as a result of human error; something as simple as the wrong numbers being typed in. This may only happen a handful of times each year, but when it does it can result in tens of thousands of vehicles being mis-described in the system and on the V5C.

To rectify this CAP undertakes the process of ‘patching’. This is a manual process which involves:

1. Identifying the incorrect code and clarifying the mistake.
2. Contacting the manufacturer to make them aware they have typed in the wrong code. 
3. Locating the Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) for each mistake.
4. Assigning these incorrect VINs to their correct MVRIS codes (and therefore the correct CAP ID).

Patching is quite a time intensive process but an important one to maintain CAP’s high accuracy rates and quality data returns.

Find out more

Discover more about CAP’s VRM service and how we can help you access quality vehicle data: colin.whelan@cap.co.uk